Madrid opens inquiry into CIA ‘torture’ flights

Spain has launched a judicial inquiry into allegations that CIA aircraft may have secretly used a Spanish airport to transport terror suspects to clandestine interrogation camps, Jose Antonio Alonso, the Interior Minister, said.

If the allegations proved true, Mr Alonso warned, “we would be looking at extremely serious, absolutely intolerable acts that violate rules for treating prisoners in a democratic society, and would demand a government response that would affect bilateral relations”. The dispute deals a further blow to US-Spanish relations, already bruised by Spain’s withdrawal of troops from Iraq last year.